Though many books have chronicled Jimi Hendrix's brilliant but tragically brief musical career, this is the first to use his own words to paint a detailed portrait of the man behind the guitar.

A unique tribute to Jimi Hendrix on the 50th anniversary of his untimely death, featuring contributions by those who knew and worked with him, enhanced with images by the most renowned rock photographers of the era. In September 1970, the legendary Jimi Hendrix died at only 27 years of age. On the 50th anniversary of this tragic event, acclaimed r

Jimi Hendrix is still widely revered as the most gifted guitarist in the history of rock. His fluency on an electric guitar was breathtaking, and he had a way with words that somehow paralleled his music. Fortunately, Jimi gave many interviews during his short life. Here is what he had to say... I used to like to paint. At school the teacher used to say 'Paint three scenes'. And I'd do abstract stuff like Martian sunsets.Because I didn't have a cent in my pocket, I walked into the first recruitment office I saw and went into the army. Anyway my discharge come through... and I found myself with my duffle bag and three or four hundred dollars in my pocket. I went in this jazz joint and had a drink, liked it and stayed. I came out of that place with sixteen dollars left... All I can do I thought is get a guitar and try to find work. Woodstock was groovy and all that, but anybody can get a field and put lots of kids in there and put band after band on. I don't particularly like the idea of groups after groups. It all starts merging together. Music is religion for me. There'll be music in the hereafter, too. Many say they can understand themselves better when they take LSD. Rubbish! They're idiots, who talk like that. I had one [car] back home, but a girl-friend wrecked it. She ran it straight through a hamburger joint. After that, I started to devote more times to my music than to girls. Yeah, I never did want to go to the moon too much. I always wanted to go to Saturn or Venus, or something like that. I believe that maybe in one sense we might be nothing but little ants to them, you know.

It didn't take long after Jimi Hendrix's death for the artist to become a myth of music. He has been surrounded by a shroud of intrigue since he first came into the public eye, and the mystery has only grown with time. Much has been written and said about him by experts and fans and critics, some of it true and some of it not; Starting at Zero will set the record straight. This is Hendrix in his own words. The lyricism and rhythm of Jimi Hendrix's writing will be of no surprise to his fans. Hendrix wrote prolifically throughout his life and he left behind a trove of scribbled-on hotel stationary, napkins and cigarette cartons. Starting at Zero weaves the scraps and bits together fluidly with interviews and lyrics revealing for the first time a continuous narrative of the artist's life, from birth through to the final four years of his life. The result is a beautifully poetic, charming and passionate memoir as smooth and memorable as Hendrix's finest songs. The pieces of Starting at Zero came together in large part because of the inspiration of Alan Douglas. Douglas first met Jimi Hendrix backstage at Woodstock, and soon after became Hendrix's producer and close friend. In creating the book he joined forces with Peter Neal, who edited Hendrix's writing with the reverence and light touch it deserved.

Reminiscences from the legendary talk show host: “Erudite and witty . . .Brief Encounters is very good and very funny.” —Chicago Tribune On his talk show, Dick Cavett welcomed leading figures from film, music, theater, literature, comedy, and politics, and engaged them in conversation that made viewers feel like the discussion was taking place in their own living rooms. In Brief Encounters, Cavett introduces us to the fascinating characters who have crossed his path, and also offers piquant commentary on contemporary politics, the indignities of travel, the nature of comedy writing, and the utter improbability of being alive at all. “A touching essay about the late James Gandolfini, a fond remembrance of an afternoon at Stan Laurel’s small Los Angeles apartment, sparring with Muhammed Ali, and being talked into signing on as Apple’s first celebrity pitchman by a young Steve Jobs are all here, as are Cavett’s warm memories of John Lennon.” —Esquire “Includes numerous observations about contemporary culture and politics—neither Democrats nor Republicans are spared.” —USA Today “A delightful peek behind the curtain at celebrities, complex characters, and the nuances of everyday life—all told with his singular wit and style.” —Publishers Weekly Includes a foreword by Jimmy Fallon

Think "Woodstock" and the mind turns to the seminal 1969 festival that crowned a seismic decade of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. But the town of Woodstock, New York, the original planned venue of the concert, is located over 60 miles from the site to which the fabled half a million flocked. Long before the landmark music festival usurped the name, Woodstock-the tiny Catskills town where Bob Dylan holed up after his infamous 1966 motorcycle accident-was already a key location in the '60s rock landscape. In Small Town Talk, Barney Hoskyns re-creates Woodstock's community of brilliant dysfunctional musicians, scheming dealers, and opportunistic hippie capitalists drawn to the area by Dylan and his sidekicks from the Band. Central to the book's narrative is the broodingly powerful presence of Albert Grossman, manager of Dylan, the Band, Janis Joplin, Paul Butterfield, and Todd Rundgren-and the Big Daddy of a personal fiefdom in Bearsville that encompassed studios, restaurants, and his own record label. Intertwined in the story are the Woodstock experiences and associations of artists as diverse as Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tim Hardin, Karen Dalton, and Bobby Charles (whose immortal song-portrait of Woodstock gives the book its title). Drawing on numerous first-hand interviews with the remaining key players in the scene-and on the period when he lived there himself in the 1990s-Hoskyns has produced an East Coast companion to his bestselling L.A. canyon classic Hotel California. This is a richly absorbing study of a vital music scene in a revolutionary time and place.

It has been more than thirty-five years since Jimi Hendrix died, but his music and spirit are still very much alive for his fans everywhere. Charles R. Cross vividly recounts the life of Hendrix, from his difficult childhood and adolescence in Seattle through his incredible rise to celebrity in London's swinging sixties. It is the story of an outrageous life--with legendary tales of sex, drugs, and excess--while it also reveals a man who struggled to accept his role as idol and who privately craved the kind of normal family life he never had. Using never-before-seen documents and private letters, and based on hundreds of interviews with those who knew Hendrix--many of whom had never before agreed to be interviewed--Room Full of Mirrors unlocks the vast mystery of one of music's most enduring legends.

This visual celebration and musical analysis of Jimi Hendrix, the genius who created modern guitar, includes 300 color and b&w photos--many never before published.

Seven years in the making, this is the complete account of the career, music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix, based entirely on first-person recollections and new, exclusive photographs and documents. Since his death in 1970 at the age of twenty-seven, Jimi Hendrix has been mythologised as a risk-taker who lost it all - and not the serious musician whose sole desire was to play and write great music. Now, authors John McDermott and Eddie Kramer (Jimi's long-time producer) set the record straight. From Jimi's Greenwich Village days to his Electric Ladybird nights, they chronicle the innovative techniques of a pioneer who painstakingly worked to perfect the sounds others couldn't even imagine, despite being modest to the point of shyness about his own singing talent. Key figures in his inner circle such as his manager Chas Chandler shed light on Jimi's whirlwind three-and-a-half year career. Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight is the definitive biography of a legend whose recording career transformed the essence of rock and roll.

In this lively collection of interviews, storied music writer Jas Obrecht presents a celebration of the world's most popular instrument as seen through the words, lives, and artistry of some of its most beloved players. Readers will read--and hear--accounts of the first guitarists on record, pioneering bluesmen, gospel greats, jazz innovators, country pickers, rocking rebels, psychedelic shape-shifters, singer-songwriters, and other movers and shakers. In their own words, these guitar players reveal how they found their inspirations, mastered their instruments, crafted classic songs, and created enduring solos. Highlights include Nick Lucas's recollections of waxing the first noteworthy guitar records; Ry Cooder's exploration of prewar blues musicians; Carole Kaye and Ricky Nelson on the early years of rock and roll; Stevie Ray Vaughan on Jimi Hendrix; Gregg Allman on his brother, Duane Allman; Carlos Santana, Eric Johnson, and Pops Staples on spirituality in music; Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, and Tom Petty on songwriting and creativity; and early interviews with Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Ben Harper.